If we have learned nothing else from the events of recent months, it is that politics is an unpredictable business and no one can claim certainty on the will of the people when they are motivated to come out and vote.
MPs who lost their seats in last week's Westminster election know only too well that standing for office can be a bruising affair, offering ecstatic highs when the poll is in your favour and devastating lows when it is not.
As Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and the party leaders in Northern Ireland can attest, survival is often down to judgment, circumstances and sheer luck.
Mrs May is hanging on by her fingertips, but for how long?
Arlene Foster hung on after losing the unionist majority in March's election and is now feted in Downing Street.
One leader who knows all about survival, tenacity and defying the odds is Enda Kenny, who finally took his leave as Taoiseach yesterday.
It has been something of a long farewell for the man from Castlebar but he deserves credit for not just rebuilding Fine Gael but overseeing the restoration of the Irish economy after the financial collapse.
While perhaps not the most charismatic figure, he has presided over social change in the Republic and was well regarded in Europe where he scored a significant victory in securing Northern Ireland's rights in the event of a united Ireland.
However, it is fair to say that Mr Kenny has been less focused on the situation in the north than some of his predecessors, an omission that hopefully will be redressed by his successor, Leo Varadkar.
Mr Varadkar takes office this week at one of the most pivotal periods in our recent history, with the devolved structures in limbo, the DUP playing a key role in propping up the British government and talks due to begin on the Brexit arrangements.
In reality, the new Taoiseach cannot be less than fully engaged in wider political events if he is to safeguard the interests of people throughout this island at this crucial juncture.
